Re: Get to know your fellow board members....

Originally Posted by Drinkey McDrinkerstein

BlackSwan, how often do you work out? How much can you bench? What's the most amount of sit-ups you've done consecutively?

I work out 4 to 5 days a week. Monday and Friday are always the break days with the occasional Wednesday or weeknight show thrown in there. The max I have benched recently is 200, but I don't focus so much on building lots of muscle, it's more about functional ability. In terms of sit-ups, I do weighted crunches on a ball that is more about building strength than endurance, but I've done about 50 of those consecutively. What I am getting at here is that being in shape isn't about how much you can bench, or how many sit-ups or push-ups you can do in a row. I wasn't sure if that's what you were implying, but I got that sense.

Originally Posted by daxton

BlackSwan, why are you so angry? Is it the roids?

I am not an angry person and do not take steroids.

Originally Posted by Hannahrain

Swan, boardmember hetero and homo islands, please.

Three for each like the thread, right?

Homo:
Jeff/boarderwoozel3
Brandon
Alchemy

Hetero:
Barbara
Kat
??? -- Not sure on number 3. I'm giving this one deeper thought.

Originally Posted by faxman75

Swan do you have any pets, can you tell us about them?

I have a dog, but she was also my mom's dog so she lives with her in NY. Her name is Shadow, and I got her when I was 11 or 12. I begged my mom and grandparents for a dog, promised to walk and feed her, and then never followed through on my responsibilities. Luckily, getting the dog had a majorly positive impact on everyone in my family and they all ended up loving her, so it worked out in the end. As I became a teenager, the dog also became a source of greater bonding between my grandfather and I. We used to take the dog on walks at night and talk about many things ranging from philosophy to politics. He still talks about how much he enjoyed those walks and that is nice.

Originally Posted by faxman75

How do you feel Zoo's and Sea World?

I think it's a shame that animals get taken out of their environment to be caged and paraded around in front of stupid humans for profit, but I don't loose any sleep over it. If Brad Pitt's character in 12 Monkeys had tried to recruit me to help them let animals out of the zoo, I would probably be into it.

Re: Get to know your fellow board members....

Originally Posted by BlackSwan

What I am getting at here is that being in shape isn't about how much you can bench, or how many sit-ups or push-ups you can do in a row. I wasn't sure if that's what you were implying, but I got that sense.

Not implying anything, just genuine curiosity. thanks for taking the question seriously.

Randy's function on the team is obvious. Brandon for his looks and computer knowledge. I bet he could also make us a cool logo, and we could seduce/distract the fembots together. You and GEmma would be our main strategians, and make sure the planes are well-written. Gemma also already has a gun and military training (if I remember correctly), so that should help. Chris is giant and intimidating, so that will come in handy. Supre will be doing reconnaissance while serving a similar function as Randy. FOI will be on the team to help get nature and the animals on our side.

This is an awesome question, and I feel like I could have made my answer better, but I needed to get back to work.

Originally Posted by faxman75

I had no idea you were into fitness. What are some basic things a dumpy slug like myself can do to get started but not burnout fast?

First, go to a nutritionist and set up a manageable diet up for yourself. I don't mean diet like South Beach Diet, I mean figure out how many calories you should be eating a day and be mindful of that. Don't treat yourself too hard though, and allow yourself to splurge on weekends. Next, join a gym and take some personal training session. Have someone work with you to achieve what you want. Everyone wants to get in shape in different ways, and for different reasons, so it's worth it to have someone who can address your specific questions.

Originally Posted by TommyboyUNM

BlackSwan, what made you finally decide to embrace your internet life and show yourself at Coachella?

To be honest, it was part curiosity and part self-interest. There are many people on here that I am genuinely interested in meeting. I met a few of them at Coachella and that was cool. That's the curiosity part. I also thought my Coachella experience would be more enjoyable if I knew people there besides my wife. I was right about this. All of the interactions I had with people elevated the experience. There's the self-interest.

Originally Posted by TommyboyUNM

Did people act how you expected them to act? Provide examples, please.

Hmm... Amy seemed as moody as she does on the board, but my interaction with her was very minimal, so that's probably not a fair judgment.

Hannah was friendlier than I imagined.

Randy was nicer is person than I expected him to be, but I think that's because I caught him off guard.

You were less vocal than I expected you to be, but you reminded my wife and I of one of our good friends, so we immediately liked you.

I didn't run into Josh at Coachella, but had lunch with him the Wednesday before and he was just as nice and cool as everyone said he was.

Originally Posted by amyzzz

BS, any reason why you don't give out your name when you meet boardmembers? Do you expect everyone to know what you look like even though you haven't posted any clear pictures of yourself?

Do you mean my full real name or board name? I am pretty sure I said I was BlackSwan when we met, but my apologies if I didn't or if my introduction was confusing in some way. I think we ended up meeting because my wife accidentally elbowed you, so that may have made things a bit awkward.

Originally Posted by full on idle

Blackswan, I want to tell you that I'm sorry I got you banned for one day that one day a long time ago because you said you were going to wait outside my work for me. ?

That was why I got banned? I thought you initially invited me to your office so we could hug? Either way, I am actually glad that happened. Up until then, I didn't really care, or put much effort into what I posted on the board, ever. You helped me stop being such an asshole around here, so I accept your apology, but also would like to say thank you.

Originally Posted by full on idle

How old are you? Where did you live before SF?

I am 26. I was born in the Bronx, but was raised in Sag Harbor after I got my initial hard knock education. I then lived in Eugene, OR, Hilo, HI, and Binghamton, NY before settling in San Francisco.

Originally Posted by full on idle

Do you go to 24 hour fitness? I used to go to Castro one.

I do not go to 24 hour fitness, but imagine going to any gym in the Castro would be entertaining.

Re: Get to know your fellow board members....

I don't remember you saying anything about who you were until she prompted you to give me your board name. (There are at least 7 Matt's on the boards in any case). I was happy to meet you btw, I'm just saying I was confused at first because I didn't know who it was I was meeting.

Re: Get to know your fellow board members....

Hmm... I guess I would marry James Murphy, screw Damon Albarn, and kill Johnny Greenwood. James Murphy seems like he would be a good marriage partner since he is already married, and isn't one of those anti-marriage cynicists. Also, I bet he gets invited to cool parties, so a night on the town would be a blast. Damon seems like he would be an aloof asshole as partner, so probably just better for a screw. I care about Johnny Greenwood way less than the other two, so he gets the axe.

Originally Posted by MissingPerson

BS: Proudest and most shameful things?

Let me start off by saying that this seems a bit absolute. I've done some things that I've been terribly shameful of after doing them, but I only consider them to be really shameful things if I don't learn anything from the experience. I also feel like I might be forgetting important things, but this is what I could come up with after thinking about it for a while.

Proudest recent moment would be when I told my grandfather I was taking his last name and then when I actually did it. One from the last five years would be achieving one of my major childhood dreams at 23.

For most shameful moment, I have to go with what happened to me/what I did at Goldfinger concert when I was just a young lad. I didn't really learn anything new from this and it ruined what could have been an awesome memory. I also never tell anyone this story, so it must have been shameful for me, at least up until now.

At the time I went to see Goldfinger, I was in high school and it was only my fourth concert ever. All of my other shows were attended with someone older and more experience than me, so this was the first time I was going to a concert with just one of my friends. We took a train to NYC and spent most of the day skating. I don't remember eating or drinking much during the day, which seemed to be the norm for days full of skating.

We got to the venue on the early side, scored a spot on the on the center of the rail, and stayed there for the entire show. It was a total blast. Ska-core-ish band, The Urge, opened, and then Goldfinger played a great set. For the last song of the encore, they pulled about 5 or 6 people from the crowd to come on stage... Two of those people being my friend and I. For some reason, everyone on stage was content with just dancing around, so I was unopposed for the spot I took at the mic helping Jonathan Feldman sing "Here In Your Bedroom"... Fucking awesome.

I'm not sure if it was dehydration, or just nerves, but about halfway through the song I started to feel sick. At first I just ignored it, I have a strong will, so I thought I could just let it pass, but slowly it became more obvious that it wasn't just going away. Before I really knew what happening, I found my self lurching back away from the mic and bending over next to the drum set. At that point, I threw up... I remember it being a lot, but that could have just been the intensity of the whole thing. As I finished and staggered to my feet, I looked up just in time to see the drummer point at me with a drumstick and yell at one of the stage crew guys. He was your quintessential roadie, huge man with long hair, black shirt, and a beard, so he had no problem picking me up by the back of my shirt and throwing me into crowd. I got a good crowd surf out of it, but was completely ashamed of myself for not only ruining a potentially awesome experience, but for throwing on stage at a show of one of my favorite bands (at the time). One of the reasons I don't think I learned anything from this experience is that we hung around after the show for a while as I contemplated the idea of trying to apologize to someone for what I did. I mean, someone had to clean that up and I felt bad about that. As we were standing around this really hot punk-ish girl came up to me and said, "I just want to say that you have the most amazing body I have ever seen." She was definitely older than me; I had a girlfriend at the time, and had been through such a recent trauma that I did not respond to this in the way that would have been the smoothest. I am ashamed of that too.

Originally Posted by MissingPerson

Most extraordinary thing you've ever witnessed?

There are definitely more extraordinary ones than this, but two that have made lasting impression on me are the view from the top of a truly massive wave (gnarly bro), and the inside of my mind aided by a huge inhalation of DMT vapor.

Originally Posted by guedita

Tell us about your leather jacket(s).

I do not own any leather jackets. The main reason for this is that they smell exactly like what they are... Treated animal hides. I do have a few jackets that LOOK like leather jackets. My favorite one has a hood and some cool other details on it. I wear it about once a week.

Originally Posted by algunz

If you could make someone you know less ignorant about one thing, who would you pick and what would it be?

Gunz, I didn't overlook your question... I just decided it needed more thought because all of the answer I came up with seemed like a petty use of a powerful action. Answer incoming sometime today...